Law Student Division Assembly Information

About the Law Student Division Assembly

The ABA Law Student Division Assembly is the voice of law students in the ABA. It is an opportunity for ABA Representatives, SBA Presidents, and Division Entity Liaisons to represent their law school by voting on resolutions that will help form the Division’s voice within the ABA for the coming year. ABA Representatives and SBA Presidents will receive training about their roles as representatives, mingle with fellow leaders at other law schools, and vote for national representatives. Events being on Thursday morning and culminate with the Assembly on Saturday afternoon.

The Law Student Division Assembly is comprised of:

• Each ABA-accredited school’s ABA Representative.
• Each ABA-accredited school’s Student Bar Association President.
• Law Student Division Entity Liaisons.
• Up to three representatives appointed by affiliate student legal associations.

Key Assembly Documents and Links

• Assembly Standing Rules 2019
• 2019 Assembly Agenda
• Voting and Credentials Procedures 2019
• Voting Floor Instructions 2019
• Letter to Deans Encouraging Funding and Attendance
• Law Student Division Bylaws
• Roberts Rules of Order Motion Chart
• Robert’s Rules of Order – Slide Show
• Robert’s Rules of Order for Annual Assembly Webinar (Required for Assembly voters)
• Assembly Caucuses
• Sample Resolutions
  • Encouraging Adoption of the Uniform Bar Exam
  • Endorsement of Anti-discrimination Amendments to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct

2019 Annual Meeting: Resolutions Up For a Vote

• Resolution 10B: Urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal legislatures to enact legislation and appropriate adequate funding to ensure equal access to justice for Americans living in rural communities by deploying, to at least 98% of the population, broadband infrastructure with a download speed of at least 100 megabits per second, and an upload speed of at least 30 megabits per second.

• Resolution 11-4: Amends Section 6.7(b) of the ABA Constitution to increase the number of delegates to the ABA House of Delegates from three to six.

• Resolution 102: Urges state, territorial, tribal courts, and law schools to adopt a “Pro Bono Scholars Program” in their respective jurisdictions that allows law students, in their final semester of law school, to obtain a full-time externship placement providing supervised pro bono services which deliver legal and other law-related services to the underserved through non-profit legal organizations; and that eligible “Pro Bono Scholars” be provided the opportunity to take the February bar examination in their respective jurisdictions (if offered) during their final semester of law school.

• Resolution 104: Urges Congress to enact legislation to exempt from the Controlled Substances Act any production, distribution, possession, or use of marijuana carried out in compliance with state laws;urges Congress to enact legislation to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 801 et seq.; and urges Congress to enact legislation to encourage scientific research into the efficacy, dose, routes of administration, or side effects of commonly used and commercially available cannabis products in the United States.

• Resolution 106: Urges all employers in the legal profession to implement and maintain policies and practices to address and close the compensation gap between similarly situated men and women lawyers.
• Resolution 109: Seeks to ensure that children who live in poverty, high crime communities, or experience race based trauma, or related stress, receive the in-school service support needed to maintain or restore good health.

• Resolution 115B: Urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to enact legislation that requires equal pay rates for employees of a different sex (which includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression), race or ethnicity who perform substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar working conditions.
• Resolution 121E: Urges the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals to establish or expand pro bono programs to provide pro bono representation to pro se appellants in immigration cases.

Assembly Voting Power

Members of the Assembly decide important ABA Law Student Division legislation, and national student leadership elections. Assembly members vote on:

• Matters before the Assembly, in-person during the ABA Annual Meeting in August.
• Elected positions for the Law Student Division Council in March and then August.
• Resolutions submitted at the discretion of the Council for an electronic vote throughout the year.

You do not need to be present at ABA Annual Meeting in order to vote in elections for Law Student Council positions.

If you can’t attend Annual Meeting, a proxy can cast your vote at Annual Assembly on resolutions! To be eligible to be a proxy, the student must:

• Be an ABA member.
• Attend your law school.
• Be attending Annual Meeting.
• Exception: Liaisons cannot proxy their vote.

ABA Reps and SBA Presidents must use this form to certify their proxy.

Submitting a Resolution

Any member of the Law Student Division may submit a resolution to the Law Student Division Council at any time. For the Assembly to consider a resolution at its once a year in-person meeting during ABA Annual Meeting, the resolution must be submitted by June 15.

Review the ABA Law Student Division Resolutions Guide, and review previous resolutions below. You may submit your resolution proposals or questions to the Division Director and/or any member of the Council.

Resolution E-Voting Procedure

In addition to considering resolutions once a year at an in-person Assembly meeting at Annual Meeting in August, The Law Student Division Council may put forward resolutions for an electronic vote of the Assembly at any time during the year through its Remote Meeting and Electronic Voting Policy [PDF].

Any Division member can submit a resolution to the Council for consideration. Please contact a Council member for more information.

Previous Electronic Voting Resolution Results

• 18/10-01 Revising the Law Student Division Election Cycles
  • Sponsors: Law Student Division Council.
  • Date of Assembly Vote: October 29 – November 1, 2018.
  • Result: IN FAVOR, 144-8 (bylaws change required 2/3rds affirmative)
• 17/04-01: Undocumented Law Students Resolution
  • Sponsors: Law Student Division Council.
  • Date of Assembly vote: April 19-23, 2017.
  • Result: IN FAVOR, 102-43.